Father Problems
by CrystalMoonlightII
Summary: Audrey Belrose – renowned in Glenberry as a carefree party girl. Yet, beneath her a wild exterior, there is so much more. She wasn't always so headstrong, but walking away from her broken home to attend university changed all that. Add a fateful meeting with a blond singer to the mix, spin the wheel of fate, and suddenly, a flicker of hope is born (An Audrey origin story).
**A while back, I had a moment of creative inspiration. I felt like trying to sculpt the personalities of our lovable Huniepop cast a little more. As a result, this little project was born. I wanted to rewind back to the very beginning, and show Audrey's past, something I made reference to many times during the Redhead path of Relationship Problems. Not only that, but I wanted to pay tribute to a little something from the game. In the early character profiles every girl had a unique nationality - something we didn't see in the finished product. I felt like going back and giving a little nod to the concept.
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 **I hope you enjoy reading this short piece as much as I did writing it! Special thanks go to Sayuri as always for the custom cover art!  
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* * *

 **Father Problems**

Stained walls – the stench of nicotine soaking every article of furniture within this, a place of truest desolation. A single dim light – lone survivor of the rest, flickered desperately in its mission to keep the grimy lounge alive with illumination. Before a battered tube-style television, there sat a lopsided leather couch, cigarette burns pressed into the arms.

Languid and uncaring, there resided a morose glob of a male, faded, scraggly reddish-grey hair pooling halfway down his sweaty back, an obese gut made almost entirely of lager spewing forth from a grubby white vest at least two sizes too small. His eyes narrowed in disgust at the half-dead flickering of the screen as he stuffed obscene amounts of value chips into his mouth.

"GO FOR THE TOUCHDOWN! RUN YOU FUCKER! I'VE GOT A FIFTY RIDING ON THIS!"

A choked mouthful of lukewarm beer to calm the nerves, his ogre-like hands trembled as he scrawled them across the expanse of his greasy face, "That's it! Go for it! Daddy has a poker game tonight! Run… MOVE YER LEGS!"

' _Carlson breaks through the defence… he's almost there… he's on the line! TOUCHDOWN! There you have it folks, the Glenberry Falcons win twenty-three points to seven.'_

Victory obtained, he sprung up from the couch and let out a pained cough, "Yes! Money in the bank! Chips for the card game!"

"Daddy…." A tiny voice echoed from the conjoined hallway, heeled shoes tapping against the scuffed hardwood as a girl, long crimson hair and a dress of wavy ribbons, nervously poked her head around the corner, "I'm leaving in like, ten minutes or something…. Just need to check over my bag one last time."

"Audrey," came the gravelly rasp of the patriarch as he stood disinterestedly from his 'throne' of sorts, "Where the hell do ya think you're going, girl? It's late… and I've got the landlord coming down for poker... He'll wanna see ya!"

His voice – it was enough to cause a shiver as Miss Belrose cowered back slightly, holding a lighter between her left forefinger and thumb, "….I told you, daddy… I've been telling you for months, fuck," she frowned, her rouge eyes trapped somewhere between frustration and fear, "I'm starting college next week…. How could you forget? Grandpa sent me the money…."

"Hah," Disdain from the father while he eyed his baby girl from head to toe, "About time the old bastard did something to help this family… shit…."

Audrey paused in flash freeze as dad stepped closer and closer, her arms shuddering as his sweat-laden palms clasped around them, squeezing tightly. His booze breath burned her sense of smell as if it were acid, "So you're moving out, huh?" He questioned, though it was unclear whether his tone was rhetorical or genuinely confused.

A quiver of fear, the shadows of the room seemingly twisted – everything in the girl's mind going from zero to nightmare in just a second flat. She needed to be assertive, she needed to stand her ground, _she needed to get his dirty hands off her,_ "…I-I'm," steeling herself was the only way she could face this, "I'm taking my core classes in Glenberry. My friend Tiff helped me find a cheap apartment out that way."

The stinking mammoth released his hold, taking a step back as he returned to his chair, "Fine… a girl like you needs an education anyway, then maybe we can get some money in this house since yer fucking whore of a mother left…. You ain't no better unless you pull your fuckin weight."

Some lines were never meant to be crossed – no matter how much hatred and resentment one person had for another. Father's words, they held the impact of a searing hot knife. Audrey felt a crack in her heart, eyes staring down at the floor; "Don't talk about mama like that," the words should have come out in a shout. Instead, they crawled out at a half-dead whisper.

"You say something, girl? What did I tell ya scrawny ass about talking back to me, hmm?" Despite the bravado - there didn't seem to be much of an apparent threat, at least for the moment. As always, the man, nameless in her eyes for many a cold reason, was already fixated upon his beloved 'box' again.

"Nothing, daddy," yet Audrey's retreat still needed to be hasty. Out of the lounge and back in the room as fast as possible. She knew all too well, how handy this excuse of a man was with his fists, "Need to finish packing."

Her room – four walls and a rusted door lock, but perhaps the closest thing to safety and comfort she knew. Once back inside, the bolt secured, her hands trembled, a shrill scream erupting from her dried ruby lips, "I hate you," The very sensation of his hands upon her skin, it put her stomach into knots. If it wasn't an angry fist, or been grabbed and shaken, it was their dirty old landlord trying to paw and grope for the sake of his twisted desires.

Chipped paintwork and a broken bed, badly tacked posters hanging at odd angles across the beat up walls. One object within the little room, complete with its dirty repo store carpets and damaged furniture, stood pristine, "I only have enough space for one more dress," the wardrobe, home to her clothing, practically the only pride she had living in this sty.

Audrey eyed the dearest garment within the wardrobe's confines, plucking it out for an audience in the dying lights. Tassels and ribbons, something so luxurious and expensive it would make the average student glow with envy, redness and frills, almost an identical match to the long, ruby hair which spilled down her slender back, "Mom," she hugged the article close, closing her eyes with a silent tear, "Maybe someday I'll see you again…."

A few careful folds saw the dress – her most precious of them all, safely away from harm within the dusty backpack. She needed a moment – a hint of tragic reflection to put everything into perspective, "I can fit nearly all the stuff I own into one little bag... fuck..."

"Dresses, shoes… money for my first month's rent… student paperwork," ringing out the checklist aloud was the best way to remember. It wasn't as if coming back was an option after her departure. Hell, wandering the streets homeless seemed a more comfortable alternative in comparison, "…Shit, I almost forgot!"

Two dusty relics sat on the desk behind, both of them forgotten pieces of a much happier time, "Passports," not as if going anywhere was an option – the luxury was far out of reach. She picked up the one on the left, tracing her finger across the emblem of the eagle etched proudly upon the cover, "America." Taking the little booklet-sized ticket to the world between her pale fingers, she carefully placed it in the front pocket of her pack.

"Now for the other one," Her fiery red eyes fell upon the second document, flashes of the past filling her mind, "France." Slender digits carefully flipped open the cover, the sight of a much younger girl staring back in the photograph.

 _Name: Audrey Belrose_

 _Place of Birth: Lyon, France_

"Would be so great if I could go back home… find mom… tell her what a fucking pig the man she married turned out to be." Then again, that was exactly why she'd left in the first place – another lover, a man who Audrey could only imagine treated her with more respect than dear old daddy ever did.

The truth held with it so much pain – it made the realization of her place in life so much more difficult. Audrey Belrose, twenty in just a few months' time, "And not a single person gives a damn about me…." In the end, she found the strength to hold back the tears long enough to put her second passport in the bag.

"Time for me to leave…. I ain't got a damn thing to stay for…."

* * *

Dead grass crunched beneath Audrey's boots as she made her way toward the sidewalk. The bus to Glenberry would be arriving before too long. However, "I'm never coming back here… never again," flicking her long red hair back, she looked at the place she'd been born, the place she'd been raised, taking care to memorize every last detail.

The cracked lounge window, the chipped steps leading toward the scratched up doorway, trash cans strewn across the yard - and a burnt out four-door sprawled with tire marks across the browned, lifeless patch of lawn. So many bleak memories of the past screamed inside, the disrepair, the disrespect, the decay and most of all, "The hopelessness."

Bitterness, a burning flame most pure rose up from the pit of Miss Belrose's stomach, "You make me sick, dad, and I don't blame momma for walking away…. She's happy now, home in Europe with family... people that love her..."

"Not like me," two red eyes from an empty girl danced against the moon's reflection. Such a sight, it was the last straw, the farewell token to close a book left open far too long, "Fuck this town… fuck everyone in it… I CAN'T RELY ON ANYBODY!"

A scream – its intense malice piercing the battered homes of the poor suburban district. Alas, it quickly fell dead in the following moments, leaving its owner just as desolate as she had been before.

Wheels screeched to a pained, desperate halt against the side of the road. The washed out paintwork of her little town's greyhound bus – it was time to escape at long last. The past died here, her life as the daughter of a broken home died here, and most importantly, the frightened girl the world abandoned died here too. However, she'd never allow herself to forget the house - the scars would harden her wounded heart for the future.

It took but a moment to board, but many a moment to find her barings.

Audrey placed her petite behind upon one of the dirty seats and laid her head back, closing her eyes as the vehicle pulled away from the scenery of her tragic upbringing in a frantic sputter. With every moment, every minute, and every mile, her scarred heart lifted further and further from the pits of her chest, bringing a twisted smile, "My life was just a game… that's all it ever was it you, wasn't it, daddy?"

The house was gone now – far out of sight. Fist clenched, she let out a shallow chuckle and nodded with resolve. "Au Revoir… and for once in my life, I'm gonna have some fun."

To her deadbeat dad existence was nothing but gambling, booze and drunken fighting. What did it matter anyway if she let her hair down for once? After all, nobody gave a damn. The only person kind enough to throw her this lifeline, grandpa, unfortunately didn't have long left in his life.

"I'm the girl that nobody wanted… ever…. Why would anyone love me now? I'm damaged goods…."

The evening passengers batted not an eyelid between them at her heavy words, and in the end, there was nothing but silence. It was a long road to Glenberry - and whatever the future held, Audrey would throw herself at it head on.

* * *

Six months in Glenberry – scraping through classes and duping dumb morons into buying her drinks under false promises. This was life, existence, however narrow in its scope, finally held some meaning for the girl with a shattered past. Under the lights of the club, the thumping bass, and the chattering voices, Miss Belrose leaned up against the bar with a daiquiri slinked between her fingers.

"Hey, did you hear, Jenny?" Audrey listened in as two girls stalled beside her, no doubt waiting for their drinks during this exceedingly busy night at Lusties, "There's a new band playing tonight! They say the manager's changing up the music on weekends, letting local talent play to draw a fresh crowd."

Interesting, very interesting indeed. The redhead leaned just the slightest bit closer as she sipped her drink inconspicuously, "They're a rock band or something, right? I hear the guitarists are twins, real hunks too."

"No, no," the blonde of the duo waved off her friend's words with glee, a subtle redness filling her cheeks, "Forget about the guitarists! Rumour has it their lead singer is gorgeous, a sexy smile, bleached hair, and a voice to die for…. Well, that's what Mimi, my friend on campus told me. Apparently he helps the music students with their live shows."

"Awwww…. Look at you! Your little cheeks… you're all flushed!"

This conversation was proving too much. Audrey gagged a little at the brainless bimbos to the side and sprang up from her stool, looking off in the direction of the stage, "A band, huh? Shit… Maybe I'll take a look."

As close to the front as she could get, barging and shoving people aside as she went. Her place secured, and most violently at that, the party girl downed her alcoholic beverage and stood, arms folded, "This better be worth my time…."

A drop in the music – the volume lowering increments until it died away, along with the flashy hues of neon. The room fell into blackness and shadows. Every soul waited. Finally, in a loud, dramatic snap, stage lights flooded the middle of the room, basking the wide performance stage in an inescapable ray.

There, at the forefront, flanked by a pair of long haired, blue-eyed twin brothers brandishing expansive looking guitars, there stood a tall figure with mid length peroxide hair reaching his shoulders, the bright wisps of light illuminating his eyes of emerald green to a near-sparkle.

Audrey watched in the moment of silence, basking in in it as best she could as to imprint every feature of his face into her memory. His rugged features, his slightly pale complexion, the surety twisting his lips into a suave smile, and most importantly – those inescapable orbs of green warmth.

There was something about those eyes – they calmed her hostilities and served to set her mind at ease amidst a sea of worries. The storm subsided, the ripples calmed, and if only for a moment most brief, she felt at peace.

"We're Third Betrayal," the voice of this guy – it was low and buttery, the gentle, sensual purring of a cat, "We hope you enjoy!"

A backing track kicked up in a hurricane across the booming cones of two gigantic black speakers, yet the beat was smooth, relaxed, a cross between something Nu-Metal and melodic nineties rock. If there was one thing, her burnout of a father had taught her, it was the expanse of musical genres.

Venom and a frown of disgust was fitting for the tune these guys were kicking out on stage. However, somewhere deep within the confines of her confused little heart there flickered a tiny flame of nostalgia – it stopped her from walking away.

"Bring it back to me, the power that longs for me…. I'll take this life for myself!" The bleached-blond spun out his lyrics, no doubt basking in the euphoria of being at the centre of everyone's attention. She could see it on his face, the suave markings of a showman drowning in the glutinous pleasures of massed praise.

"MIKEY," howled a shrill girly voice just a couple of steps to Audrey's side. The redhead frowned, feeling her stomach turn at the sight of such doughy-eyed, drooling obsession.

"Jeez… calm down, bitch," Ruby eyes fixated on the singer at front for a second time, Miss Belrose found herself smiling, though something at her core burned in fearful concern. It was those eyes of his, dammit, why were they pulling her in like a magnet?

In a single swift movement this 'Mikey' guy stripped off his denim jacket and tossed it into the crowd, his toned, black shirt-clad chest presented for free viewing amidst the audience. The gaggle of mindless lady drones screamed, their puppy dog eyes wide in appreciation of the treat 'master' had so kindly given.

"Fucking show-off," at this point Audrey was done with the whole affair. She turned her back – just about ready to begin fighting her way through the rabble. However, at the last moment, she felt a pang deep in her chest, _something_ she couldn't describe brought her to a halt. Worse, she spun back.

It was those damn eyes again – like two bright green suns burning through her armor, melting her defences to leave her naked. She hated it, despised it even, and yet, she couldn't stop herself from staring, not in blind obsession, but in a search for something deep within. Mother had a radiant, hypnotic gaze just like his.

" _That's right, baby! Drop the past, leave it behind, take my hand, and together we'll make a stand! I was small and torn; down and out against the luck of the draw, but now I'm back, a new life, a new vibe…. Nothing can stop me, cuz this is my time!"_

A place too deep, and a memory too painful – Audrey tore her eyes away from the stage and shoved toward the bar. A drink, or several, were long since overdue. However, in one final moment, a single flare of rebellious emotion, she looked back toward the stage, her disgust softening into the tiniest smile, "Mikey, hmm? I'll be keeping an eye on you…."

The fluttering in her heart – like a naive little girl swept up in the blowing winds of a tsunami, try as much as she might, it was a feeling the redhead couldn't bring herself to hate. By the time reality swept in, the girl found herself growling in frustration, "What the fuck am I doing? Get it together, Audrey…."

Man – he was so annoying!

 **Continued in Relationship Problems**

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 **From a glimpse at her former home life – to a showing of her first meeting with Mike from her own perspective. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this to the end, and please feel free to leave me some feedback if you would like. This chapter is for the Audrey fans! As always, your support and feedback are greatly appreciated, and I will see you in the next chapter of the 'Problems' series. Keep on supporting Huniepop and Huniecam Studio!**

 **Also, a little heads up for Social Problems readers - the 'Passionate Surrender' ending is coming shortly!**


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